Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
p–n junctions represent the simplest case of a semiconductor electronic device; a p-n junction by itself, when connected on both sides to a circuit, is a diode. More complex circuit components can be created by further combinations of p-type and n-type semiconductors; for example, the bipolar junction transistor (BJT) is a semiconductor in ...
The effect of reverse saturation current on the I-V curve of a crystalline silicon solar cell are shown in the figure to the right. Physically, reverse saturation current is a measure of the "leakage" of carriers across the p–n junction in reverse bias.
Under a high reverse-bias voltage, the p-n junction's depletion region widens which leads to a high-strength electric field across the junction. [2] Sufficiently strong electric fields enable tunneling of electrons across the depletion region of a semiconductor , leading to numerous free charge carriers .
Shockley derives an equation for the voltage across a p-n junction in a long article published in 1949. [2] Later he gives a corresponding equation for current as a function of voltage under additional assumptions, which is the equation we call the Shockley ideal diode equation. [3]
The diffusion current and drift current together are described by the drift–diffusion equation. [1] It is necessary to consider the part of diffusion current when describing many semiconductor devices. For example, the current near the depletion region of a p–n junction is dominated by the diffusion current. Inside the depletion region ...
Current–voltage characteristic of a p–n junction diode showing three regions: breakdown, reverse biased, forward biased. The exponential's "knee" is at V d. The leveling off region which occurs at larger forward currents is not shown. A diode's current–voltage characteristic can be approximated by four operating regions. From lower to ...
The electron–hole pair is the fundamental unit of generation and recombination in inorganic semiconductors, corresponding to an electron transitioning between the valence band and the conduction band where generation of an electron is a transition from the valence band to the conduction band and recombination leads to a reverse transition.
An LED begins to emit light when more than 2 or 3 volts is applied in the forward direction. The reverse bias region uses a different vertical scale from the forward bias region to show that the leakage current is nearly constant with voltage until breakdown occurs. In forward bias, the current starts small but increases exponentially with voltage.